Canola Oil in Matzo? Why?

[Shel_B]

Last week Toots bought a box of Streit's matzo, and yesterday we took a look at the ingredients listed on the box.  Surprisingly, canola oil was listed. I've always known matzo to be just flour and water, and the other matzo we have, from Israel, lists just that, flour and water.

 

So, what's the purpose of canola (or any other, I suppose) oil in matzo?  Oh, as an aside, malt was also listed as an ingredient.  What's that all about?

 

Signed,

 

Perplexed in Peoria

[pbear]

Oil in matzo does the same thing it does in crackers.  It makes them more tender.  I've seen it in other recipes (e.g., here) and include it in mine.  (I'm not Jewish but used to live with someone who was.)  I assume the malt is there to facilitate browning, but that's just an educated guess.

[cakewalk]

There are many types of matzoh. Egg matzoh, for example, contains eggs and apple cider. There's whole wheat matzoh, spelt matzoh, matzoh crackers, etc. Different types of matzoh are made with different ingredients. It's a year-round food item, and not all of it is kosher for Passover.

[Pam R]

Yeah, does the box say kosher for Passover or NOT kosher for Passover?

 

I just checked a box of Streit's regular matzo that is kosher for Passover and the ingredients are flour and water.   And I don't think a north American company would use canola oil in something like regular matzo that is kosher for Passover (it's still considered kitniyot by many in NA).